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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 5:28am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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8 Responses to Luke, Linus and the Nativity

I’m so glad that you posted this–when I was a kid, this is what started me down the path toward Christianity that culminated, more than two decades later, in my coming into the Church. The beauty of the passage, along with its crystal-clear separation between it and the fluff and trash all about, struck me even as pre-teen. Glorious stuff!

This is one of the most beloved Christmas shows of all time (and one of my favorites as well), but when it was first produced in 1965 for CBS, the network execs were certain it would be a ratings disaster. They were uncomfortable with Linus’ lengthy Scripture reading and wanted it shortened but “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz insisted that it be left in in its entirety.

Schulz was a devout Christian all his life and so many of his Peanuts strips touched on religious themes that a popular book called “The Gospel According to Peanuts” was published about them in the early 70s.

Another piece of Peanuts-related Christmas trivia: one of my favorite secular Christmas tunes as a kid was “Snoopy’s Christmas” by The Royal Guardsmen, a sequel to “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron.” I had a 45 rpm record of “Snoopy’s Christmas” that I played to death all year long!

Thanks for the tip on the next broadcast. I’ll be working, but I have it on DVD. It’s remarkable that Linus’ recitation went over so well without fluffy music, only dead silence. How fitting that it’ll be on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, even if it’s probably coincidental.